


Give them bruises with the pointy end

by notupforpolo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Athletes, F/M, Fencer Jackson Wang, Fencing, Fencing terminology, Fluff, Friendly competition, Humor, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm gonna explain some fencing things in the notes, It's like a sports anime but with nct, M/M, Mentioned Other K-pop Artist(s), No one is getting abused, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, There's A Tag For That, They short, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas Being an Idiot, alternate universe – Fencing, but a lovable idiot, like me :), mentions of abuse, so you don't have to know a lot about it to read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21618571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notupforpolo/pseuds/notupforpolo
Summary: They may not all be from the same place but the world of fencing is small and only so many people get to an elite level. At both competitions and practices, there are opportunities to do stupid stuff. Or fun stuff, as some would say. It doesn't matter that these twenty-one fencers are some of the best in Asia or even the world. It really doesn't.OrNct are all fencers and they get up to shenanigans.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Park Jisung & Zhong Chen Le
Kudos: 20





	1. Friendly neighbourhood performance anxiety

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> This is just a collection of one-shots where nct are fencers.  
> I'm going to put a list explaining some fencing terminology at the end note if someone is interested or wondering what the hell I'm talking about.

“You fucking piece of shit! You are the worst fucking person in the whole damn world,” shouted Yuta as he hugged his knee tightly. “Do you know how much that hurts!” Yuta was staring at Doyoung with as much wrath he could manage, which wasn’t much since the feeling of having one's kneecaps shattered isn’t a very pleasant one. “I’m going to have such a bruise there tomorrow and I’m going to be shit for the rest of the practice.” He looked up at Doyoung with actual contempt and then made the last statement, “You have such bad aim you should fence epee.”

“You are so dramatic, Yuta. Besides, it was your god awful parry that made me hit your knee,” exclaimed Doyoung as he picked some loose tape off his foil. He had already apologised to Yuta once – immediately after he had hit him – so he could be completely unapologetic after. Yuta only stared at him and rubbed his “injured” knee. They could both hear Chenle’s dolphin-laugh and Taeyongs snickering from the benches.

Johnny, who had offered to referee the match, was looking at both his clubmates in contemplation. More specifically, how much of a dick could he be without them actually getting mad at him. After Yuta had stood up from his half crouching position over his knee, Johnny put him down on Yuta's side and said a nonchalant “attack off-target” and got ready to say allez again. Yuta was, as expected, not having it. “Even though it was a shitty parry, I did parry. Doyoung even said so!” His arm was flailing so much his blade hit him in the knee and he swore again.

Johnny looked at Yuta dead on. “No, it was a shitty mal-parry. Now, en garde.” Johnny smirked as he said it but before he could continue a thump rang out over the pistes. Yuta, Doyoung and Johnny glanced in the direction of the bench and looked on as Hendery helped Chenle off of the floor.

Johnny turned back to Doyoung and Yuta and before any of the aforementioned could say a word he turned his chin up. “That kid must have never been through club hierarchy. I would never have laughed at my elders,” called Johnny, emphasizing heavily on the never and distorting his voice to what could only be called a snobby tone. The elder members laughed at the impersonation, but the younger ones just looked at them with confusion written over their features. Mark had a eureka moment and the others could see the moment the shoe dropped.

“That guy that used to fence he– Mingun!” Mark looked at Donghyuk and Jaemin to see if they also remembered but it was obvious that they had absolutely no clue. “You know,” he continued, “the guy that used to shout at us when we were too slow to pack up our stuff after practice.”

Renjun, who had just finished his match with Yangyang, was the one to answer. “He was the one who said he was surprised Leeteuk still let me fence here after my first ACC competition.”

“What a dick! Honestly, I don’t know–” Donghyuk was cut off by Johnny screaming at him to come fence.   
As Donghyuk walked away, forgetting his mask, Jaemin sighed audibly. “Now I got myself thinking of the AJCFC again. Why did I do that?” He glanced at his the foible of his foil and took it in his hand to bend it a little. “Are you worried about it?” asked Mark.

“I mean yeah. It’s my last year as a junior, so I really want to get to at least the top thirty-two. But besides Jisung and Donghyuk, I’m up against both Renjun, Chenle and Yangyang.” Mark nodded along and just let Jaemin get out what he needed to say. “I lost against Renjun last year so I’m not sure I could beat him this year.”

Mark thought for a few seconds as he heard Leeteuk shout something about how Kim Byungsoo would be embarrassed if he ever saw that disengagement. “I know it’s really daunting because it’s your last season but it’s not like you’re a bad fencer. I mean, you’re like really god if you think about it. Like, you almost won against Lucas at that competition last year, even though you were coming back from your injury.”

“Lucas was messing around, he’s like that.”

“Dude, his coach was about to strangle him though.”

“He almost won that competition”

“Yeah but those guys from Hong Kong are, like, really good.”

Renjun thought about that for a moment and was almost instantly in a more sombre mood... “You came in sixth at the Asian junior championships last year.” Mark looked a bit dumbfounded. “Yes. I did,” he said as he scratched his head slightly. Not sure where Jaemin was going with this. “So you set the standards really high. Taeyong came in the top eight at the worlds and everyone says Jisung came third at the Asian cadet championships. I feel like the pressure is really high, you know.” Jaemin could see Yuta shaking Doyoung’s hand and Jungwoo and Jaehyun taking off their masks, so he knew either Leeteuk or Siwon was going to shout at him to get off his ass soon.

Mark, who also noticed this, was quick with his reply. “I don’t really know what to say except that no one here is going to put you up against anyone else here. They aren’t going to measure you to me or Taeyong or Jisung. Sure, Leeteuk and Siwon are going to compare your old results to your new ones but that’s unavoidable,” said he as he got up to fence against Yuta. “Or,” he added, “talk to one of the older guys.”

As Mark walked off to Yuta, Jaemin thought about what the older fencer had said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cadet Circuit is like a series of competitions that give you points for the international and national ranking and those points get you to championships.
> 
> AJCFC stand fro Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships.
> 
> Here's a sort of okay [glossary](https://www.usafencing.org/glossary-of-fencing) of some fencing terminology.  
>    
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/notupforpolo) / [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/notupforpolo)


	2. A study in knee-injuries at fencing competitions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas encounters a problem while at a competition in Taipei and has to enlist a friend for help.

Lucas was not necessarily a forgetful person. A bit absent-minded sure, but not forgetful. He was, however, excitable. Now, excitable does not mean forgetful, but it does often go hand in hand. 

Just as Lucas had been packing for his upcoming competition in Taipei, Ten had called and told Lucas that he too was going to the competition. Lucas had of course gotten extremely happy when he got the news and had even stayed on the phone with Ten as he finished his packing. Which had distracted Lucas just a little bit in the process. 

This distraction mixed with happiness had made Lucas forget to pack some of the smaller things. When he and his team-mates had arrived at the hotel he had found that he’d forgotten an extra pair of socks and his shampoo. Lucky for him, both of them were items that were easy to just buy at the nearby grocery shop or at the venue. 

It wasn’t until the day of the competition that Lucas realised he had forgotten something that was significantly harder to buy. When he was just about to warm up, the sinking feeling of just knowing you aren’t going to find what you’re looking for crept upon him.

“Shit!” he exclaimed as he dug in his bag. It was a big bag, so his hope wasn’t completely gone yet. His Leon Paul bag had a lot of corners and pockets where he could have put his knee sleeves. After looking through it about fifty times, he gave up and looked out over the hall. 

“What are you doing man? You looked like you’ve seen a ghost,” asked Jackson, his fellow Hong Kong resident and friend, with his signature goofy smile. He had been talking to Mark, an American fencer who often competed in east Asia. Lucas wasn’t very close to Mark but he has met him through Jackson a couple of times. Lucas liked Mark as a person but hated fencing against him. Mark didn’t have the best technique but he was one hell of a strategist and lightning on his feet.

But Jackson had gone to get Lucas when he released Lucas wasn’t even ready to warm up. Lucas looked up at Jackson and laughed a little. “I forgot my knee sleeves,” he paused for a moment. “and I sort of need those.” As he finished speaking he pointed to his exposed knee. Lucas wasn’t sure why, because you couldn’t see any damage.

“Yeah, that’s a problem, but maybe some of the other guys have a pair.” Lucas must have looked like a walking – sitting – question mark because Jackson was quick to continue. “Well I talked to Park Jinyoung and he said he was trying to find Kim Yugyeom but that Yugyeom had run off with Bambam. So Ten’s probably here,” explained Jackson in his own way. “Also, Mark said – Mark Tuan said that Qian Kun is here.”

The world of fencing is not very big. When you’re at a senior level you more often than not no of, or even know, most people that compete at the competitions close to you. So, of course, Lucas knew all of these people. But he was also not close enough to half of those people to ask them if they have a pair of knee sleeves. Then also ask him if he was allowed to borrow them and soak them with sweat. 

Arguably, he was close enough to Ten, and he knew Ten was there since he was the reason Lucas was having this problem in the first place. The only problem was that Ten definitely didn’t have a pair of knee sleeves. Ten liked to travel light, as light as you can with a huge ass fencing bag, and he wasn’t even a bit injured.

No, Kun was a much better option. The Chinese fencer was sort of known for often bringing more than he needed to. Ten, who had been competing with Kun since they were in U15 had told Lucas a story about how Kun once had brought an extra jacket because he knew one of his team-mate’s jacket was falling apart at the seams. Kun himself had never verified it.

So, Lucas went over to where Kun and some other Chinese fencers were already warming up. He stood a bit to the side until Sicheng noticed him. “Hi man!” Lucas said (a tad too loudly) as he went to hug his friend. 

“Hi.” Sicheng was trying to wriggle his way out of this bone-crushing hug so his response was a bit short. “How have you been?” he asked as soon as he was free.

“I’m really good,” answered (shouted) Lucas. “I was gonna ask Kun if he has an extra pair of knee sleeves. But I’m really happy to see you. I saw your quarter-final in Guangzhou and... it was such a shame honestly that you didn’t win. You fenced so so good and your like eight-point was so good–” As Lucas seemed to not stop, Sicheng interrupted him. “Yeah,” he cut in, “But I practised a lot for this competition so I’m hoping to do better.” He looked to Lucas and then to Kun. “You should probably ask Kun before we begin fencing.”

Lucas followed Sicheng’s line of sight and saw that Kun had begun stretching which meant that he was soon going to change on. “Right. Well, were aren’t in the same poule but I’ll see you later!” Lucas hugged Sicheng again, softer this time, and waved to Kun. 

“Ey Kun.” He gave the older fencer a hug too. “Do you have an extra pair of knee sleeves? I need some and I- uh… I forgot mine.”

“No, sorry. But I know that Minghao has kinesiology tape because–”

“I have tape!”

“Lucas, are you kidding?”

“I always have tape in my bag in case… in case I would… In case I would forget my knee sleeves.” He laughed like only Lucas could and then thanked Kun and walked away to start warming up. He was a bit short of time at this point.

All this while Kun was keeping down the urge to put his head in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Thank you so much for reading and i feed on comments so please kudos and comment. thank you again. 
> 
> This is based on a true story where my friend was being an idiot.
> 
> Knee sleeves are used to help the knee from overworking itself or if a part of them that shouldn't be moving is moving. and is very common to have among fencers. 
> 
> Kinesiology tape fills the same function but can be on all joints and helps opposing muscle groups. 
> 
> Here's a sort of okay [glossary](https://www.usafencing.org/glossary-of-fencing) of some fencing terminology.  
>    
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/notupforpolo) / [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/notupforpolo) us cat


	3. Misunderstandings can lead to uncomfortable moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of Jisung's teachers asks Jisung to stay after class and he is a bit shocked when he realises what the conversation is going to be about.
> 
> Trigger warning  
> Mentions of abuse, although no one is being abused.  
> If this triggers you this chapter is not for you.

“Jisung, would you stay for a bit.”

Jisung’s last class of the day had just finished and he had hoped he could stay for a bit to get some studying done before he had to go to practice. He was just a bit after his first peers when it came to maths. Practice was taking up a lot of his time, and weekends were filled with qualifiers. Jisung had not counted on some of his time spent talking to Mr Min, his Science teacher. 

Mr Min was nice, he was probably Jisung’s favourite teacher. Mr Min’s classes were fun, freer spirited than other teachers. He had grown up in America, before he moved back to Korea, so his classes were, in some ways, more American. He was probably most students' favourite teacher. Paired with the fact that Jisung was a good student, what could possibly have made the man want Jisung to stay after class.

But Jisung slowly packed all of his belongings as he waited for the last people to leave the classroom. His friend, Felix, was the last to leave and gave Jisung an encouraging pat on the back. Jisung smiled at him and slung his black backpack over his shoulder. He winced just a bit as a bit of plastic hit a bruise dead centre. Donghyuk had been on a roll with more or less awful back flicks lately.

He made his way over to the front of the classroom where Mr Min was sitting. His teacher didn’t look angry or disappointed in any way, which made Jisung even more confused. He wracked his brain for anything he could have possibly done. No, his grades weren’t the best, but they were still good. He missed some Fridays and Mondays because of competitions but the school was fine since he had been on the national cadet team and all. 

“Jisung, how are you?” Mr Min locked his hands and placed them on his desk. Jisung took a moment to answer.

“I am well, Mr Min, thank you.” I moved his shoulder slightly so the plastic on his bag would move away from his bruise. Mr Min followed the movement with his eyes. He frowned and sighed quite loudly.

“Good. How is school going for you? Are you having trouble with any work or any other students?” He spoke like a man on a mission and it made Jisung frown a bit too. He hesitated again.

“Um, no. Everything is going very well and I am good friends with most of my classmates,” he answered, speaking slowly. As Jisung spoke he realised his answer sounded more like a question rather than an answer. He contemplated if he should clarify his statement but decided against it. 

“Very well. Now, Jisung, I think you are clever enough to realise that I didn’t keep you here to ask only about school,” spoke Mr Min in his authoritative baritone. It made Jisung straighten his back on pure reflex. Still, he was more perplexed by the second.   
“Yes, Mr Min.” He chose a simple answer, not wanting to straight out ask anything. His mind fluttered back to that one maths test which he hadn’t had time to study for properly. He didn’t really like any subject, but he really tried his best. Sometimes, it was hard to balance his fencing, with it going so well, and all his school work. He had talked a lot about it to Taeyong and Jaemin, and they had helped a bit. 

“I wanted to ask you how you have it at home,” he started in a calming voice. Jisung's face took the form of a question mark. “I have noticed that you often are injured and have very prominent bruises in excess. Now I want you to know that if someone is abusing you you can report it.”

Jisung said nothing. He opened his mouth then closed it again a couple of times. Abuse had not been on the map. That was very far from what he had been thinking this was going to be about. His bruises were from Mark having too low parries, Taeyong always flicking and when Jeamin had barrelled over him when he had crouched to avoid a hit. 

So after the recommended amount of time to make your teacher worried, Jisung finally wormed words.

“No… Um, it’s from- I’m not being abused. It’s from fencing,” he stuttered out eloquently. It wasn’t the optimal answer but this whole conversation was making Jisung feel awkward. 

Mr Min leaned forward, closer to his student. “I am going to believe you, but if there is anything I want you to tell me. I only want the best for you.” 

Jisung looked down at his feet for a second before looking up and laughing awkwardly. He more or less forced a smile before he looked down again.

“Yes, of course, Mr Min.” He stopped before adding: “Thank you.”

Mr Min smiled at him. “You can go.” Jisung held back the urge to run faster than he ever had before as he exited the classroom. As he walked down the corridors of his school he laughed to himself. This story was going to be a hit with the others. And Chenle was going to love it. As he waited for his bus he shot a text to his Chinese friend.

Chenle responded instantly and said that that was just what he needed after the practice he’d just had. Jisung moved his backpack a little again, he was going to need a new backpack if Donghyuk kept this up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> This is based on a very true story. It happened to a friend of mine and although we salute that teacher we laugh at it quite a bit.
> 
> If you are a victim of abuse please talk to someone you trust and/or get help to get out of that situation and to heal afterwards.
> 
> Here's a sort of okay [glossary](https://www.usafencing.org/glossary-of-fencing) of some fencing terminology.  
>    
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/notupforpolo) / [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/notupforpolo)


	4. Beginners aren’t hard to take care of but parents are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twice every year the club hosts a competition for their beginners. This year, Doyoung was asked to coach.

The fencing hall had been quiet. Before the lights were yet to be turned on and it had been uncomfortably early for most on a Saturday. The foils were in clean rows in the equipment room; all the body cords were in working condition for once. The masks were all hanging straight and no unclaimed jackets were on the benches. The only living creature in the vicinity was that one fly that never disappeared. 

Doyoung loved the tranquillity of it. Because that peace had been interrupted by almost twenty-five children. Every single one of them being under eleven and all of them bringing at least one parent. One thing both child and parent had in common was that they were both clueless. In Doyoung’s opinion, that was the worst part. 

Actually, the worst part might have been the fact that Donghyuk was one of the referees. Sure, Jaemin, Mark, Jungwoo and Jisung were also refereeing, but Donghyuk was Donghyuk. Doyoung was convinced that Donghyuk was responsible for both the more part of Doyungs suffering and the broken curtain. 

Arguably it was Doyoung who was responsible for putting himself in this position. Leeteuk had asked if he could do it. Technically, that was a question that had more than one answer. But even though Doyoung was strong in many ways, when it came to Leeteuk and Siwon, he was weak. Was he supposed to say no when his coach of 13 years came up to him and asked if he could cover for Jongdae at the beginners' competition? Was he supposed to say no when it was casually mentioned that they had more participants than ever before and Yerim was alone with them? Even if he was, he didn’t.

Leeteuk knew that Doyoung would say yes, and Doyoung was probably the best available option. Before Yerim had found her passion for coaching rather than necessarily becoming an olympian, Doyoung had been the one who helped Chen with the beginner practices. 

Although, Doyoung had been very clear that it was Yerim who would talk to the parents. He would talk to them if they approached him, but under no circumstances was he to do a walkthrough or give them the results. Yerim was fine with that, but she had claimed that she couldn’t really promise anything since parents were living, breathing human beings. 

Much to Doyoung’s surprise, it had started very well. Yerim held the warm-up and told everyone how the competition was going to work. All the kids had got on the equipment in under fifteen minutes, which was appealing to Doyoung – his kids did it in under ten, thank you very much – but Yerim seemed content. The organisers, two of the board members, made up a make-shift register and made the poules. The kids started fencing and none of them was crying yet. 

Then Donghyuk happened because it was always Donghyuk. In the last match of the first round of poules. So that every parent could both see and hear. Because the universe hated Doyoung.He made the wrong ruling an attack au fer as a parry, and Doyoung was quick to point it out because they were kids and opportunities like these were great for learning to referee. 

“Donghyuk it was an attack au fer, Hyeonjun hit the blade in his attack,” pointed out doyoung, in a friendly voice. He wasn’t going to hold it against Donghyuk, it was an honest mistake that most anyone could make. Beginners tend to flail, so it’s hard to see what's going on. “Yeah but I already gave him the point, so I can’t take it back.” Doyoung had the most shit-eating grin on his face. Doyoung took a deep breath. “It’s more or a learning experience than a competition. I think it’s better to teach them correctly than following the exact rules.”

“Maybe so, but I’m the referee,” Doyoung looked at the younger with a deadpan look. Donghyuk turned to the kids “and I decided that Doyoung is right so I’m going to take a point off of you, Dasong, because Doyoung was right. Do you understand why?” Donghyuk only took away the point when the kid, Dasong, nodded. 

Doyoung almost put his head in his hands and he could hear Jungwoo laughing from behind him. He had said it before and he would say it again, Donghyuk would be the death of him.

When he turned around, three kids were standing behind him. “Hi,” exclaimed one of them loudly. Yoonmyeon, eleven or ten years old, his mind supplied. “Hello,” answered Doyoung back with a smile.

“How did you know that it was Hyeonjun’s point?” He was looking up with big eye’s, matched by his two peers. “Like, I couldn't see anything that was going on.”

Doyoung glanced up, saw multiple parents watching and listening. He looked down at the kids in front of him again and answered, “Well I have been fencing for a while. And you learn to referee when you fence.” He smiled and heard one of the kids, Yongsun maybe, mumbled something he couldn’t make out. Before Doyoung could ask him to repeat it, Yoonmyeon took over. “Yongsoo asked how long you have been fencing. Like you have fenced for a long time right?” Yongsoo nodded and smiled a bit while Yoonmyeon was practically bouncing. The third kid was just smiling and Doyoung couldn’t for the life of him remember his name. 

“I have been fencing for a long time,” he laughed. “I’ve been fencing for around fourteen years, so longer than you guys have lived.” 

All three of them looked hilariously shell-shocked. “Wow!” exclaimed Yoonmyeon as he turned around to the bleachers. “Minseok! Jieun! Jisung!” Jisung’s head turned from where he was talking to Jeamin, surprised by a kid knowing his name, before he saw three kids look at the boy and turned back around. Yoonmyeon continued when he got the trio's attention. “Doyoung has been fencing for like super long. He- wait. How old are you?”

Doyoung laughed awkwardly and looked down at his feet. When he looked up again he saw the three kids rushing towards them so he waited to answer until there were six kids in front of him. He smiled again. “I’m twenty-four.”

Doyoung could have sworn the kids gasped and he was sure that Yerim was laughing her ass off at the register. “You are older than my brother,” stated Jieun, like that was any point of reference to Doyoung. 

As Doyoung apparently became more and more interesting to the kids, a flock was slowly forming around him. It was like that nursery rhyme with the elephant that had such enormous fun, that he called for another elephant to come. He said something that they found immensely interesting and called for a friend to hear. 

They only dispersed when Yerim called out the rankings and the eliminations were about to start. 

She came up to him after the competition was finished. “Since Jongdae won’t be able to keep going with the beginners after summer, maybe you could take over?” Yerim’s tone was light and teasing, but Doyoung couldn't help but wonder if it was something she wanted him to consider.

“No. I don’t want to have to talk to the parents.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Thanks for reading and especially to that one person on twitter who gave me the motivation to finish this chapter. Feel free to leave kudos or a comment.
> 
> Speaking of kudos. Kudos if someone caught the parasite reference. Also, this is also based on a true story because I am a youth coach at my club so.
> 
> Here's a sort of okay [glossary](https://www.usafencing.org/glossary-of-fencing) of some fencing terminology.  
>    
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/notupforpolo) / [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/notupforpolo)


	5. The only reason for team competitions are the cheers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The annual (unofficial) team competition between China and Korea is taking place.

Johnny had drawn the short straw, and he was now the referee. He had no problem usually with having this post, he knew he was a good ref, but on an occasion like this, you would want to be able to cheer. Either cheer or at least coach a bit – something a ref should never do. But as he sat next to Jisung and Chenle as they tried to draw a score sheet on the whiteboard he figured it was fine. He was tempted to pull up his phone to reread the not-so-new passivity rules just to be able to be a dick about it. Johnny was also considering if he was going to be really harsh with corps-a-corps just for the hell of it.

As Jisung and Chenle continued to bicker (Chenle was sure he knew the order of the bouts at the top of his head but Jisung had some doubts about that) Yangyang came strutting towards them. “I have the order and the team names!” he exclaimed and stopped short next to the board. Yuta who, much like Johnny, had just been waiting for them to start, looked up. “I bet both of the names are going to make fun of Kun in some way.”

“Okay,” Yangyang started loudly to catch the attention of the others in the hall. “on the left we have: Team ‘Donghyuk is a reserve, your shoulder blades and arms should be fine’ led by Lee Taeyong!” Yangyang stopped so that there would be space for applauds and whistles. Donghyuk even took a bow and winked in the direction of the other team. When it began to quiet down, Yangyang continued. “So the order is Donghyuk, Jaehyun, and then Taeyong. Reserve is Jungwoo.”

“Did I miss something or was the name just a ruse?” asked Ten with a smirk from his place next to Sicheng. Donghyuk was about to say something but Doyoung cut him to it. “He’s probably just fencing one match. He would go on about how unfair it was otherwise." Ten’s only response was a snicker.

“Anyway. On the right we have: Team ‘We hope Kun’s hip will be fine’ led by Qian Kun!” the fencers clapped yet again but this time the laughs drowned out the whistles as Kun looked just about done with life. Yangyang turned a bit more to Jisung and Chenle. “The order for this team is Sicheng, Kun, and Guanheng with Renjun as a reserve.”

Chenle had actually turned out to be right about the order of the bouts but only after Jisung had googled it had he admitted it. “First match: Taeyong against Guanheng.”

And with that, the annual unofficial team competition between Korea and China started. Taeil, Mark, and Lucas had managed to find all chairs in the vicinity and placed them into camps. On the left side of the piste eleven chairs were set up and nine on the right. Everyone took a seat, a seat they would stay in for at least a while before they would move somewhere else for one reason or another. It’s always terribly hard to predict but Ten bet 5,000 won that Yuta would move to the Chinese team (more specifically Sicheng) after four bouts. Johnny countered with 7,000 won that Jungwoo was going to end up in somebody’s lap by the end of the second. 

The first point was scored by Taeyong. Guanheng hesitated for a second as he was moving forward and Taeyong lunged immediately. Guanheng tried to parry but missed to take a step back and Taeyong was quick to disengage. The machine beeped loudly and the green lamp lit up. The Korean team clapped and cheered loudly, the Chinese team shouted encouragement, and Johnny gave a point to Taeyong.

About halfway through the first bout, both Ten and Johnny lost their bet. (Technically Taeil won, but he wasn’t officially in on it.” Jeno moved to whisper something in Jeamin’s ear. Jeamin then moved to Chenle to pass on what Jeno had told him. As Jeamin whispered the words Chenle’s face lit up and the moment Jeamin moved back he was on his feet. He grabbed his chair and walked towards the end of the piste – walking over the reel, a safe distance from Taeyong and Guanheng. Jeno and Jeamin followed with their own chairs. The three placed them in a nice line a short distance behind the scoring machine and sat down. They exchanged some glances as the match continued for some time and no hit was registered. Among them was a look Jeno shared with a slightly worried looking Doyoung. However, when the next point was scored, they began. 

“Ah yes, a slightly late but still very nice parry riposte from Huang. It hit Lee on the thigh as Lee was quick to counter parry,” said Jeno, doing his best impersonation of a focused sports commentator. He made a show of furrowing his brow and leaning back in his chair towards the end of the statement. The other two made sure to look very interested in what he was saying. They shifted their bodies towards him, nodding and making sounds of agreement. 

“Lee does have the advantage, the score being four to two, so, understandably, he is being more defensive. Right now it's a very good strategy to let Huang do the hard work,” followed Jeamin with the same tone of voice. Although, Jeamin made the stylistic choice of leaning forward in his chair.

“Right you are! But Lee shouldn’t underestimate Huang, not even this early on,” exclaimed Chenle, gesturing excessively. The people in the room all laughed, a sign for the commentators to keep going. 

And so it went on. Donghyuk was switched out after his first match, which was planned. Kun complained jokingly about how it was unfair for them to ruin only his arm. Sicheng switched with Rejun after fencing two bouts and scored at least seven points against Jaehyun in his first. Both team’s supporters clapped so their hands hurt and ran out of variants of “keep going” and “don’t stress”. Lucas and Yangyang came up with a clever chant for their side and the rest made an effort to learn it fast. Jungwoo was quick to notice them practicing and recruited Donghyuk to make one of their own. Jeno kept count of every time Renjun counter-attacked by turning around and locking his opponent out.

“As Qian Kun and Lee Teayong take to the piste the score is only thirty-six to thirty-five. That means Qian Kun has to score nine points to win with forty-five and Lee Tayong has to score ten!” called Chenle excitedly from his chair behind the machine. The time had run out during multiple bouts, most notably between Jungwoo and Guanheng who had collectively scored two whole points. “Referee Suh is right now discussing with newly appointed side referee Nakamoto Yuta the perks of not sitting between his Sicheng’s legs while watching the fencing,” continued Jeno, which made the other people in the room chuckle. Lucas’ reaction was significantly larger as he burst out laughing loudly and it egged on Ten, who adapted a mischievous smirk. “Yuta is going to watch the match reflected in his man’s eyes.” Lucas fell to the floor. Yuta grabbed a chair and sat down. Jisung fished his phone from his pocket and got ready to record.

“En garde, s’il vous plaît.”

The first point was scored by Taeyong, so were the following two. Kun parried with a smooth contre sixte, flicked Taeyong right on the shoulder, and scored. After five consecutive hits off-target Kun scored with a quick step lunge. Kun tried the same thing again after some moving around but it only ended with them getting up close. Taeyong did score, taking Kun’s blade in a prime and with a small jump hitting him right in the stomach. The next point went to Kun after some discourse. Johnny said attack toucher, but Yuta disagreed saying Kun missed his first attack. Yangyang jokingly called for video, resulting in everyone crowding round Jisung and agreeing on Kun having the right-of-way. Taeyong followed by scoring two points, one counter-attack, and one straight attack respectively. As the timer showed five seconds left Kun, having nothing to lose, scored the last point with a well-timed flèche. Chenle screamed out the announcement that it indeed was valid, and the whole Chinese time flew up from their chairs (or the floor). Even the Korean supporters clapped because everyone had to admit it was a satisfying point.

“En garde. Prêts? Allez!” One second passed and Kun flew forward before– “Halt!”

With a score of forty-one to forty the match ended. The Koreans instead flew out of their chairs (or up from the floor) this time. Jeno high-fived Jeamin and Chenle laughed. Jaehyun, Jungwoo, and Donghyuk hugged Taeyong and cheered; Guanheng, Renjun, and Sicheng hugged Kun and clapped him on the back. They thanked each other and Johnny, all smiling and laughing. 

“We’re winning next year!” called Yangyang to no one in particular. “Because I’ll have perfected my feint dégagé by then.” Xiaojun hit him on the shoulder, only to then have to catch an unopened packet of biscuits Lucas threw at him.

“To celebrate!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'm not super happy with this chapter but it's far from the worst thing I've ever written so, yeah... Also, my club hosted a camp (and followed my country's corona guidelines) last weekend so I'm definitely basing at least one of the upcoming chapters on some things that happened there. Something interesting always happens at camps.
> 
> I also feel the need to note that English is not my first language and I learned everything about fencing in Swedish. I'm sorry that some of my uses of the terminology may be wrong but I've not heard a lot of it used in a sentence so I'm always unsure.
> 
> Here's a sort of better glossary of fencing terminology.
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/notupforpolo) / [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/notupforpolo)


	6. Are they sleeping together or sleeping together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The older fencers have the evening off at one of the annual camps, and no one can seem to find Ten and Taeyong. Yuta sees it as a challenge and drags Sicheng along with him.
> 
> CW: Allusions to sex

“I can’t find Ten or Taeyong.”

“If you can’t find them now, you’re not going to want to find them.”

Sicheng kicked Yuta lightly in the shin as punishment for his comment, but he took a moment to consider it after a second thought. Yuta made a show of pointing out he had a bruise in just that spot. Sicheng cut him off halfway through, to Yuta’s delight actually expressed his opinion that his boyfriend had a point. 

The two of them were standing in the corridor of the place they were staying at. Kun and Taeil walk towards them, and Chenle stands outside a nearby window. He was the one who had shouted the question. He had been walking around the premises for a while, looking for the older fencers. 

“Taeyong promised me he would fence with us tonight,” he shouted up at them. “Then I asked Xiojun if he had seen him and he told me to ask Ten. Then I couldn’t find Ten so I asked Johnny and he said I wouldn’t find them if I couldn’t find them.”

Sicheng almost looked pained as he listened to what the younger had to say. Kun, having caught up to the window, was the one who answered. He leaned out and said, “Johnny is right. You guys should fence without him. Ask him tomorrow. Since us old people have the evening off, he probably just forgot.” Chenle gave a quick nod, accepting Kun’s reasoning, and then ran off towards the venue. 

After the younger had gone, Kun turned to Yuta and Sicheng. “We were thinking of going to the pool, do you guys want to come?” He mentioned between himself and Taeil. 

“No, sorry. We have some investigating to do,” said Yuta, smirking.

“We don’t. But we were just going to relax in Yuta’s room. We have the cardio tests tomorrow.” At Sicheng’s mention of the running, Taeil let out a laugh. “That’s the worst thing with this camp. I go here every year, yet the running never fails to be annoying,” he said. He and Kun said goodbye and then turned around to walk to the pool.

“We are not going to look for them. I don’t want to know.”

“Since you share with Ten, and told him we were spending the evening in my room… I can guess where they are,” singsonged Yuta. He took a hold of Sicheng’s arm and pulled him with him. vningManeuvering his boyfriend to walk towards his own room. Sicheng struggled slightly at first, but was soon, too, overtaken by curiosity.

“You know, they think we are doing the same thing.”

“They are freakier than us.”

“Pervert.” Sicheng hit Yuta in the arm once again. But soon they were standing outside of the room. Sicheng, not wanting to give Yuta the upper hand, leaned in to listen.

“I can’t hear anything from inside, they’re probably just sleeping,” he whispered. 

“Those two know how to be quiet.”

“Shut up.”

A sound suddenly came from inside the room. The sound of furniture scraping along the floor. Yuta turned to face Sicheng, face showing surprise. Sicheng wanted to look dead-pan, but he too had to admit this was unexpected. Both of them put their ears to the door. From the outside, the movement in unison looked comical. 

Faint footsteps could be heard. Although, with every footstep, they were becoming less and less faint. Realisation overcame Sicheng first. Quick as lightning he was standing behind the door. When it opened, the only thing Taeyong saw was Yuta. Yuta, who was standing very close to the door. 

“Sicheng told Ten you were staying in your room,” he said. Yuta noted that he was fully dressed, but his hair was ruffled and he was carrying a towel. 

“Yes. Sicheng needed to grab something.”

“Okay. By the way, have you seen Chenle? I forgot I was supposed to fence with them.” Yuta glanced out the window. “Don’t worry about it. They are fencing fine by themselves. But yes, he did ask.”

Taeyong made a face. “I’ll fence with them next time,” he said, then started to walk towards the showers. When he had turned around the corner, Sicheng stepped out from behind the door. He walked into the room without a word. Yuta followed behind, a smirk plastered on his face. 

Ten was laying under the covers of his bed, scrolling on his phone. Sicheng actually went to grab a jumper, and then promptly turned around to walk out again. 

“We were just sleeping, you know. We weren’t going to do anything more devious than you two. Or were you going to use Yuta’s empty room for something special?” Ten didn’t look up as he spoke. Sicheng and Yuta could hear the self-satisfaction in his voice. Sicheng felt a blush spread to his cheeks and pulled Yuta out of the room.

“I’m tired. Let’s go.”

Ten was still smirking when Sicheng came back to their room, having passed Taeyong in the hallway.

“Jeno was looking for you. I told him I couldn't find you or Yuta.”

Sicheng promptly turned to face the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for reading!
> 
> I like to base these on things that have actually happened, and there was this thing that happened this summer at a camp. We didn't go looking for them, though. 
> 
> Also, school is hard, but online school is even harder. I'm super stressed with corona already, I just started a new school this summer and we went online in November. Thankfully, not much changed at my fencing club, so that's nice.
> 
> Here's a sort of better [glossary](https://www.betterfencer.com/fencing-terms-glossary) of fencing terminology
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/notupforpolo)


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